Windows Server 2012 R2, the next iteration of Microsoft's server operating system is now
available, but should organisations upgrade?

The company has positioned the new OS as a way for enterprises to run private and public
clouds.

With Windows Server 2013 R2, Microsoft is aiming to make it easy for IT departments to deploy
applications on-premise, within a private cloud or on the company's Azure cloud.

It represents a major step forward for the software giant, which is competing with VMware in the
private cloud and Azure for public cloud deployments.

Windows Server 2012 R2 uses the same version of its hypervisor software, Hyper-V, as Windows
Azure, which could enable Microsoft to provide a high level of consistency between in-house Windows
servers and cloud-based deployments on Azure.

In a blog post describing the company's hybrid cloud strategy, Satya Nadella, executive vice
president of Cloud and Enterprise at Microsoft, wrote: “We are also delivering hybrid solutions
that help enterprises build their own clouds with consistency, enable them to move without friction
across clouds, and let them use the public cloud in conjunction with their own clouds.”

The OS also provides support for software-defined networking and SSD-optimised storage
virtualisation.

More articles on Windows Server 2012 R2

In Server 2012 R2, Microsoft has added a feature called the Inbox HNV Gateway, which handles
site-to-site VPN, NAT (Network Address Translation) and forwarding. The new gateway integrates with
System Center Virtual Machine Manager for easier management.

In terms of storage virtualisation, Microsoft has introduced storage tiers, which let IT
managers mix fast SSD
(Solid-State Drives) with conventional drives. Virtual disks can then have two tiers of
storage, with data moved between SSD and hard disk drives according to its usage.

Storage boost

In a blog post covering the update to Windows Server, Gartner
analyst Gunnar Berger wrote that the changes Microsoft has made to storage could lower the cost
of desktop virtualisation. "So better storage is a major feature of Server 2012 R2 and its very
welcome as far as I’m concerned. The cost
of storage needs to drop and I’ve been very public in my desire to see these costs drop
drastically. In my mission of having storage cost less than $100 per user for VDI workloads these
changes in Server 2012 R2 are helping pave the way for organisations to see this as a reality.”

Hypervisor choices

In his keynote presentation at VMworld Europe 2013, CEO Pat Gelsinger said: "The hybrid cloud is
an extension of the enterprise datacentre and is an extension of customers' existing
infrastructure, with a common view of the network. We have 100 customers in the early access
programme.”

Experts may say that VMware's management tools are superior,
but Microsoft has the edge

He claimed VMware's unique selling point would offering private and hybrid clouds based on the
same infrastructure.

Microsoft may not be the VM market leader, but its approach to cloud computing means IT
departments can take their existing Windows server infrastructure and migrate, where appropriate,
servers into a private cloud or Azure public cloud.

Since many organisations have standardised on VMware for server virtualisation, the choice of
whether to stick with vSphere or deploy Microsoft’s Hyper-V hypervisor on Windows Server 2012 R2
will come down to operations' cost and software licensing.

In 2012, a Microsoft-commissioned report conducted by Forrester found that 75% of surveyed
customers reported a reduction in IT infrastructure spending by deploying Windows Server 2012. The
study also found that more than half saw improved storage efficiency and also in
server-administrator productivity. Data on Windows Server 2012 R2 is not yet available, but the
Forrester data does show admins can make big operational savings by modernising their Windows
Server software.

Arguably the biggest saving for IT departments is the initial hit they will take in purchasing
vSphere and then on-going software maintenance. Hyper-V is free and the Windows Server 2012 R2 is a
free update to Windows Server 2012.

While it is impossible to do a like-for-like comparison, in a SolarWinds
presentation, Scott Lowe, managing consultant 1610 group, and Lawrence Garvin, SolarWinds
technical product marketing manager, claimed Microsoft’s virtualisation could be significantly
cheaper. The pair illustrated that running 150 virtual machines using 10 two-processor hosts would
cost $84,000 on Windows Server Datacenter Edition compared to $208,000 on vSphere Enterprise Plus,
based on figures from Microsoft. A Principled
Technologies test report for VMware in 2012 claimed that operational costs of vSphere were 91%
less than Hyper-V.

Experts may point out that VMware's management tools are superior and that the hypervisor is
technically a better product, but Microsoft has the edge. And the integration with Azure means IT
departments now have a choice on how best to deploy Windows server software, whether it is
on-premise on physical hardware, via a private cloud or in the Azure public cloud.

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